Tag Archives: singapore

Hawker centres are places close to the hearts of several heartlanders where you can find scrumptious local food delights which many restaurants and cafes are unable to provide. True enough, there may be food courts or even cafes which offer the same food choices as hawker centres but it is not always the food that matters. The ambience of the location count as well.

Laksa, Fried Kway Teow, Fried Hokkien Mee, Lor Mee, Chicken Rice and so forth are some of the food choices which top Singaporeans’ favourite list. If you would have realized, queues for local delights occur mostly at hawker centres and not food courts. What is the reason behind this? Consider the freshness of the food which are easily detectable such as seafood. Although not absolute, hawker centres are usually situated very close to wet markets where food hawkers get their food supplies from. In comparison to restaurants and cafes, food are usually frozen or kept for a few days. Of course, this is not to say that food hawkers do not resort to similar cost-effective methods, but there is a higher chance that food from hawker centres are fresher.

Compared to most restaurants that do not offer fusion of different cuisines, hawker centres sell a myriad of cuisines, including Malay food, to Thai, Indian, Western, Italian, Korean, Japanese and even Vietnamese food! You get to try out different types of cuisines at one go, that is if your stomach’s space permits. On the same footing, hawker centres are also definitely the best choice if your group of buddies cannot decide on what cuisine to have.

At a promotional price

Undisputedly, one of the main reasons why hawkers centre are ‘for the win’ is due to the obvious price differences. A plate of Fried Kway Teow, on the average, costs $3 while food courts sell them for $5. With a $2 saving, you can even get a decent cold drink from the drink stall at hawker centres and still able to save around 50 cents. Of course, the price differences attribute to the rental differences and environment. Unless you are budget-less, visiting hawker centres should be done at least once a week or even more frequent.

Hawker centres are favourite choices of many heartlanders who grew up in that area since young and who may be loyal and avid customers of their favourite stalls. Some of these stalls stay put in the same area for several years, passing down the ownership and management throughout the generations. Furthermore, the reason for such favoritism may be because certain creative hawker vendors include a different recipe or ingredient which cannot be found in other similar food in other locations.

If you are just looking to settle your dinner after work or may just want to satisfy your hunger with small bites, you need not travel down all the way to shopping malls or specific restaurants to do just that. Convenience is key to many customers and since hawker centres are easily accessible, this is the reason why you should cut your car some slack (saves petrol too!) and visit a nearby hawker centre. With that, why the need to travel down all the way to restaurants just for Hi-Tea sessions when you can now simply just head to the nearest hawker centres in your home clothes and slippers and not receive disapproving stares, and yet get to enjoy your favourite Dim Sum?

As a coffee-addict to another, if you need some good ol’ coffee to keep your awake and satisfy your coffee-addiction, hawker centres is The One. They sell the best coffee and proven to be more effective in keeping one awake than coffee chains and cafes. And of course, it is much cheaper as well. ‘Cheap and good’ – why not? Never reject good offer, they would say.

If you are claustrophobic or simply hate to wait, hawker centres would definitely beat restaurants and cafes hands down due to the lesser crowd. Although there may be some queues at certain popular food stalls, with the variety of food choices, the situation is better than restaurants and cafes.

The last reason is pretty simple, because dining at restaurants and cafés is just too mainstream. Why follow the trend just for the sake of following and at the expense of your pocket? Are our local delights and hawker centres not Instagram-worthy enough? It is high time we show more support towards our local food because this hawker culture may soon vanish before you even know it.

Recently, the bf and I were cordially invited by Love&Co. to an exclusive bloggers-only media event and were showcased to their LVCaqueen collection.

We were greeted by warm and friendly staff of Love&Co. 🙂

We were asked to fill up a ‘Couple Personality Test’ which tests each partner’s knowledge on their other half.

Apart from that, this event provided us a valuable insight as to the price and information on proposal rings and wedding bands, which would be forthcoming in the near future.

I guess this should answer most of your queries. 😉

Truth be told, I was telling the bf and the sales assistant that I actually prefer a simple looking proposal ring, with no diamonds on the side. Also, because my fingers are quite slim, a hugeass carat is really not required.

I am really not difficult to please, materialistically.

To be honest, I don’t even think spending an exorbitant sum of money on such stuffs is anywhere near logical and practical. Even spending 5k on a chanel is seems ridiculous to me.

I would prefer to invest such sum on something more investable. I don’t know about you but I guess may some people are just too rich and have no idea where to spend the rest of their moolahs on, and that is taken into consideration that they have donated a huge sum off to those in need.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, work has been crazy and that has sort of affected my mood to blog…

Not forgetting the minor breakouts I am encountering at this moment!

I seldom have pimples and when I do, it’s either I’m very stressed or am using some facial product that is not suitable for my skin…

BB cream isn’t my thing but recently, I switched to that just for the fun of it and it actually seems quite okay. The only concerns I have when using BB cream/liquid foundation is how ‘thick’ the layer will look on my face and how clogged my pores would be 😦

I’m not too sure if this is the course of my breakouts but I am not ruling out the possibility of the increasing work stress as well 😦

The place is located at Sunshine plaza (Middle Road) and is called Victor’s Kitchen.

I actually googled it (I love googling almost everything and anything!!) and saw some poor reviews on the customer service on Hungrygowhere.

Read below to see if this is really true.

What we ordered :

Nemo’s porridge – $4.50

I thought the name of this porridge was kinda sad…? LOL. And yes I note the “‘s” which means it can actually belong to Nemo and not that we are eating Nemo….okay nevermind. #grammarpolice

Anyway, we chose Wala Wala porridge initially and chose Phoenix porridge after we were informed (rudely) that the former is out of stock. Then we were informed (rude again) that the latter is out of stock as well and settled on this Nemo’s porridge.

Deep fried shrimp dumpling – $5

OMG, I didnt know this was so over-priced until now that I’m blogging about it. I didn’t check the prices cause the bf was the one who ordered (and paid, teehee!).

It was delicious no doubt but looking at the prices, on second thought, I don’t think it’s worth getting it.

Char siew chee cheong fun – $4.50

The chee cheong fun tasted not bad but could be tastier though.

Their signature golden egg yolk lava bun, aka liu sha bao – $4.50

The mandatory picture of liu sha bao

Friends and reviewers said that their liu sha bao is awesome but I thought it was so-so. This could be because I didn’t have them immediately after they were served to us as I was struggling to finish the other dishes!

Scallop, sausage carrot cake with xo sauce – $4.50

I read the review on this dish on one of the food blogs before heading down to actually have a taste of it myself.

To be honest, this was actually my first experience trying out the traditional steamed carrot cake. Be it steamed or pan-fried, they are both actually reddish instead of carrot…

Anyway, although it was interesting I actually prefer the usual pan-fried version.

Victor’s King prawn dumpling – $5.00

I thought the skin was quite thick which isn’t really my preference. I don’t like it when one bite of it forces the prawn and skin to be separated from each other kind, you know?

Anyway, I’m not a fan of ha gao so….yeah.

Tasty queen size siew mai – $4.50

Now, don’t let its name fool you. I didn’t thought of it as ‘queen size’ until I read its name now.

Bird’s eye view of our super late lunch or early dinner, however you want to call it.

Now onto the customer service which I really place loads of importance and significance upon when judging and reviewing food and eateries.

I must say that, sadly, I have to agree with the reviewer’s view on the poor customer service.

When we first arrived at the small, unmaintained small shop, we were not served.

We were instead ignored when the bf told the staff ‘Table for 2’ and I was quite annoyed about that.

When the bf was placing his orders with the lady cashier (younger one), he remarked that she was quite rude as well, giving that nonchalant attitude. And when she had to come by our table to inform us twice for out of stock items, she was giving the same rude attitude as well.

However, I actually witnessed that the old lady was quite friendly towards the end and to other customers.

Could it be because they despise younger customers?

Whatever it is, my take is that they should improve their customer service quality as well as upgrade their shop, taking care of hygiene issues too.

With its eye-catching and vivacious colours and branding, Hotel Re! should not be unfamiliar to most of the youths. Hotel Re! is a modern retro themed boutique hotel that is designed with psychedelic furnishings tempered with a sleek modern touch. With numerous themed boutique hotels in the metropolis, this 12-storey, 140-room boutique hotel is a wondrous surprise waiting to be discovered!

What is also interesting about this hotel besides the fact that they are 100% non-smoking hotel, is that each floor in this boutique hotel has its own colour theme and all the rooms on the floor resonates with the designated colour and décor. So for example, if you are a huge fan of PINK (I hear you ladies!!) you may put in a request and the friendly staff at Hotel Re! would always try their best to accede to your request! 🙂

You may want to read up more here and for those looking for hotel venues to hold your wedding or any other events, do check out their affordable rates and packages here!

I love the classic breakfast! Even when I’m out for brunch at other cafes, I would always 99.99999% choose this dish without fail because it contains all the ‘essential’ breakfast needs, thus I am elated to endorse this dish because it’s just so ‘me’! 😀

Slipper Lobster Croissant – Nothing is short of premium when this delicious croissant is generously filled with a mix of grilled slipper lobster tossed with chopping celery, chive, tomato in Japanese dressing and tobiko. Accompanied by truffle fries, this is an irresistible and elevating dish!

Egg-citing Benedict – This is no ordinary dish. After countless weeks of experimenting and perfecting his recipe, Chef William promise that you will be back for more of these poached eggs resting on toasted English muffin base, topped with a generous serving of turkey ham or smoked salmon, sautéed mushroom and grilled baby tomatoes and mesclun salad.

BeRe!Licious Pancake – Attention all berries lover! Do not miss this mixed berries compote drizzled with chocolate and strawberry sauce. Not in the mood for chocolates? No problem. Opt for butter and maple syrup for a healthier choice!

Just by looking at these pictures, I bet you are already salivating and cannot wait to try them out right?

Now, here is the real deal!

Always placing affordability as one of their priorities, Hotel Re! is now offering these promotions!!!

Enjoy50% off brunch items on the first weekend of our launch (6th and 7th Sept) and 20% off brunch items for the subsequent weekends in September.

Last Sunday, I took part in the Shape Run 2014 in the Women’s Competitive 10km category. I was supposed to run with my buddy but she fell ill and hence couldn’t join me 😦

But I guess that’s alright because usually when I run during run events (I don’t call them marathons because technically, a marathon is 42.195km), mostly with my bf, we run separately although there are times where he waited for me. Different people run at a different pace due to obvious differences such as stamina, gender and so forth. So I guess running alone is alright with me.

To be honest, this is the first time I am running without my bf who was kinda worried for me as he won’t be there to look after me should anything happen. Heh, so sweet eh. 😛

I slept at around 1.45am and sprung up to action at 5.20am when the bf woke me up as he was gonna turn in (he was mugging for exams till late). I usually don’t have sufficient rest the night before the run which is extremely not advisable, so please don’t do that. 😦

I gobbled a banana before the run and praying so hard that I wouldn’t face with stitches at my tummy, and thank god I didn’t! 😀

A word of advice, you should NEVER run on an empty stomach. I used to do that but I always felt sick after running on an empty stomach. Eating after the run doesn’t help either because all I felt was puking which I did once, quite badly. 😦

You should always have something light 1 to 1.5h before running and a banana would suffice.

Unsurprisingly, I reached the event a little late and started off 4mins after the official timing. I guess for all run events, especially when there is a massive crowd, the gun time will never be the same as your real commencement timing because it is just too crowded and so, you will find yourself walking first before you can really start running.

Here is some of my feedback and thoughts on the Shape Run 2014 event in summary, which many other runners concur as well (I know this because I saw many others complaining of the same on Shape Singapore’s Facebook)

Lack of manpower – at water points and booths giving out finisher tee and medals

Runners using USED cups due to insufficient cups

Runners drinking FROM THE huge bottles and PASSING IT around to other runners. I really find this unhygienic but I guess this is based on individual’s perspective. But whatever it is, this should NEVER occur and has NEVER occurred in all the run events I have been to (I have completed over 10 run events to date).

Because of the long waiting time and everyone was rushing and pushing, with disgusting sticky bodies rubbing against yours (MAJOR YUCKS), I was so fed up that I gave up and forgo the chance (what chance?) to hydrate myself.

After completing the race, there was NO direction as to where runners could receive their medals and prizes. There was no systematic method of organising this event. It was so bad that I actually thought perhaps there was no medals given out because some run events actually do only hand out finisher tees. But Shape Run 2014 does give out BOTH medal and finisher tee however, there was no sign to direct runners after completing the run. I was quite lost and eventually, I found the booth giving out the finisher tee and medal.

The queue, unsurprisingly was damnnnnn long. The amount of crowd was madness but thank god, the ‘XS’ size category was the shortest and because I opted for ‘XS’ for my running vest as well, I reckon I should be able to fit the ‘XS’ finisher tee as well.

However, upon reaching the booth after queuing like for 10mins (poor others had to queue even longer for other sizes), I realised that the volunteers were not giving out the medals and finisher tees, it was DRINKS. I was like, huh? but took it anyway and it was only the booth after this drink booth, were the volunteers handing out the medals and finisher tees.

The event took place at Nicholl Highway and they had booked the huge grass field to fill their tents with, which was quite a distance from one booth to another, but I guess this is only a minor issue.

There were long queues at the photo booths and freebies booth which I guess it’s pretty common

During the run, there was a junction where both 10km runners and 5km runners faced an intersection (which means prone to clashing into one another). I think this is pretty silly because I thought the organisers could actually route it properly to avoid this? I don’t know but this as well, has never occurred in other run events I have participated, especially at the same route.

Not as many road marshals stationed at the routes but I guess this doesn’t really bother me that much

This pretty sums up the consequences of poor organisation of the event. I am rather awed and taken aback because Shape Run as compared to other run events held by Community Centres or small organisers, is considered as a major event. I guess it can pretty much be on par with Standard Chartered Marathon?

Anyway, thank god for another friend who ran 5km and waited for me to finish my 10km.

Hate my fat arms 😥

I know my timing is shit.

Finisher tee and medal!

Upon completion of the Shape Run 2014, I still have 3 other upcoming run events – Yellow Ribbon, Tampines Run and Great Eastern Women’s Run. Still thinking if I should participate in the Standard Chartered Marathon this year…

On a side note, I really hope to improve my speed and stamina but my knees are getting tighter and tighter… 😦

Don’t you just love their coffee art? It really enthralls coffee addicts like me because it’s so different from the usual ‘leaf’ coffee art design… 🙂

The bf’s Aglio Olio, it’s quite spicy actually so if you can’t take spicy food well, do remember to put in your request for less spicy!

The formidable ‘Class 2A Breakfast’ – what a cute name, isn’t it?

This has got to be one of the best scrambled eggs I’ve eaten…and everything else tastes so good! 🙂

And we were pretty much walking around Haji Lane to look out for more cafes to try next time. Initially, we wanted to cafehop but our tummies didn’t barge and we were hoping to catch a movie or something, but didn’t due to availability 😦

Here is our mandatory #OOTD shots at Haji.

Weekends fly by when you are having an awesome time, especially with your loved ones.

This is a post-event entry and I have been receiving queries about my recent expedition of being a ‘model’. I added inverted commas because I don’t consider myself as one and the girls whom I’ve ‘modelled’ with aren’t professional models too.

I know this may come as a surprise to some of you guys because Model and Jean does not coincide and gel very well. LOL, I know I get it.

I have mentioned this before and I will say this again. At the end of the day, I’m not looking for a career in the modelling industry, even if I am, I guess I may most probably not cut out for it. I only wanted to challenge myself as well as to gain some insight and experience as a model. Of course, make new friends too! 😀

But anyway, I’m here to share about my experience of being a ‘model’ for a day.

First and foremost, I must say that it really isn’t easy being a model, what more for professional models. The event started officially at around 10am for media preview but we had to reach there by 8am for preparation, i.e. make up and hairdo. It was quite tiring because I bet most of us did not have sufficient rest the night before since it was TGIF! I cabbed down with my tired face and sleepy brain and waited for my turn to be ‘beautified’.

I wasn’t exactly very satisfied with the makeup and hairdo though, but I shan’t touch on them much.

Walking 3 shows could not be more taxing than those who walked like 5 or 6. Especially for those girls who modelled 1 brand after another consecutively can be very scary because you will have to change real fast. While most of them have more experience than me, there are a few who kept quite calm even when rushing. And because I was not walking for the 2 brands which they were, I stood there observing how things were done.

Walking the 1st time really made me all glittery…even when it was a small stage event kinda thing, my hands were reaaalllyyyyy cold and I was pacing around and freaking out.

3 things were on my mind :

1. What if I fall, especially when we had to stop and pose?

2. What if I did the wrong choreography? Because there were diff choreo for diff brands…and we had to remember where to pause and pose.

3. How should I smile? With or without teeth? I still have some issues smiling with my teeth even though I’ve removed my braces….I know right, it’s so sad. 😥

Sure, there were some hiccups and all….but I guess I did manage to snag some good experience from this event and here are the pictures!

Mandatory Group picture after the event!

My sister, bro-in-law, my niece (who was fast asleep after I was done) and my bf came down to support me! My colleague and her bf who are both awesome photographers were there too!

Thank you so much guys for taking the time and making the effort to sacrifice part of your precious Saturday to support me!!! Really really appreciate lotsssss!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!! ❤